A total of 57 contraventions have been issued by the Environmental Police from January 15, 2021 to date, for non-compliance with the ban on single-use plastic products. 22,700 plastic products were seized during the same period.
Day: 24th February 2021
Seychelles to plant 250,000 trees in next five years
(Seychelles News Agency) – A campaign aimed at reforesting some of the most eroded mountainous areas of Seychelles’ second-most populated island is on target to plant 250,000 trees in the next five years.
The campaign ‘Rebwaz mwan,’ meaning reforest me, involves widespread planting of 50,000 seedlings annually over the next five years on Praslin Island. The tree planting is seen as the biggest such campaign ever undertaken in Seychelles – 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean.
Mauritius-India sign CECPA to consolidate bilateral cooperation
Mauritius and India have embarked on new avenues of bilateral cooperation with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA).
Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth said that this partnership agreement is the first of its kind signed by India with an African country while adding that it will unleash new opportunities in trade in goods and services, investment, economic cooperation and technical assistance.
The Prime Minister pointed out that the CECPA will encourage Indian entrepreneurs to invest both in Mauritius and across the African region, thus consolidating Government’s vision of making Mauritius as a strategic regional economic hub and a centre of excellence. The signing of the CECPA coincides with the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area, he added.
The CECPA and the African Continental Free Trade Area, he said, provide scope for fostering Indian investments in the continent via the Mauritius gateway, particularly through leveraging India-Africa value chains in many areas such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, agro-industry and ICT.
CECPA
The CECPA covers components such as Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, Customs Procedures and Cooperation in other areas.
Under the Trade in Goods component, Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access on a list of 615 products, including sugar, tuna, rum, fruit wine, tropical fruits, medical devices and garments. Mauritius will provide preferential access on a list of 310 products including tea, spices, bed linen, material of steel and furniture, amongst others.
On Trade in Services, the CECPA will provide market access in sectors such as financial services, tourism, education, distribution, ICT and professional services. It also makes provision for professional bodies to conclude mutual recognition of qualification in sectors such as architecture, engineering, medical, dental, accounting and auditing.